NFL: McCoy makes strong defense of Reid

Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) strongly defended head coach Andy Reid’s decision to keep his star running back in the game five weeks ago when McCoy suffered a concussion. McCoy is expected to play in this Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins, which could be Reid’s final home game as Eagles head coach. (AP Photo)

PHILADELPHIA — Andy Reid Support Week continued at the NovaCare Complex Thursday, with LeSean McCoy and Marty Mornhinweg offering some of the most poignant defenses of the Eagles head coach as the sun sets on his 14 years in Philadelphia.

McCoy was at the center of one of this season’s most scathing indictments of Reid’s judgment when he suffered a concussion during the final minutes of a Nov. 18 blowout loss to the same Redskins the Eagles face this Sunday in the final home game of the season. Many media members and fans openly questioned why the Pro Bowl running back was still in the game and getting touches with Washington leading 31-6. The concussion caused McCoy to miss four games.

“The thing is,” said McCoy, who will return to action Sunday, albeit in something less than a full-time role, “if he had taken me out, I would’ve been on him so much. You don’t play like that. Just because you’re down you take all of your guys out? No, you fight until the very end. He knows that, and I know that.

“So when I heard that people were upset … I mean, when you start a game, you finish it not matter what the score is. That’s being a quitter – ‘Oh, we’re down, take him out.’ No, not at all. It upsets me that people think that … I don’t agree with that at all.”

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It was an impassioned response by McCoy. Many of the same people who bludgeoned Reid for leaving him in that lopsided loss had spent many other Monday morning quarterbacking hours bemoaning the fact that the coach didn’t depend on McCoy enough when Mike Vick was committing turnovers by the fistful as pass play after pass play was called.

Regardless of the fairness and fickleness of the criticisms and critics, the fact remains that the Eagles are 4-10 with two games remaining, and even a healthy McCoy probably could not have saved Reid from the chopping block he’s expected to meet at season’s end.

Not that McCoy considers that justice, either.

“If you sat here and tried to name five to eight coaches that are better than Coach Reid, then I would like to hear them,” he said. “He’s a great coach. He gets blamed for everything. Sometimes when we break down the film and see the mistakes, you think, ‘How do you fault the coach for that?’”

It should be noted that the answer to McCoy’s rhetorical question is this: Reid does the blame-placing on himself with robotic-like persistence and adhesion to the phrase, “I need to do a better job.” But that relentless protection of his players makes the reflexive response by McCoy and teammates logical.

“I guess people have their own opinions and their minds made up,” McCoy said. “We know how good a coach he is. Whatever happens, happens, but I’m behind coach Reid 110 percent.”

Mornhinweg, who has been the offensive coordinator under Reid since 2003, didn’t speak specifically about what type of reception he’d like Reid to receive Sunday, but certainly implied where he thought the emotions should go.

“I do think it will be an emotional game for most of the fans,” Mornhinweg said. “Andy has Hall of Fame numbers. Really, the only thing we and he hasn’t done here is win a Super Bowl. He’s been to one, and five or so NFC Championship games. So I’d expect it to be emotional.”